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April 2008

We're proud to announce that Family SportsLife Today is holding a FREE Symposium for Parents and Student-Athletes to be held at University of Washington on Saturday, May 31st entitled "Expectations with Revelations: an insight to the process of Intercollegiate recruiting today...".

The event will be held at the University of Washington, Hec Ed Pavilion, Assembly Hall, Saturday, May 31, 2008, from 12:00 -3:30pm. Middle School and High School parents and their student athlete children are invited to this FREE program. Pre-registration is encouraged by joiningwww.FamilySportsLifeToday.com.

This program features college coaches as Panelists from various areas of intercollegiate sports. Division I, II, III, NAIA and Community College representatives will present their recruiting insights and information for parents and their student athletes on what identifies a prospect today when they evaluate a student athlete playing interscholastic sports.

The representative Universities and Colleges from the Puget Sound will include coaches from Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University, St. Martin's College, Pacific Lutheran University, University of Puget Sound, Northwest University, Bellevue Community College, and the host school, the University of Washington. The sports being represented in this symposium will be the following:

Men and Women's Basketball

Volleyball (D-I, D-II)

Men and Women's Soccer

Football (D-I, D-II)

Track and Field

Fast pitch Softball

Also featured in this extraordinary program are former intercollegiate student athletes from the various levels of intercollegiate athletics and their respective sports. Certified professionals from Strength and Conditioning training programs will also provide information for parents and student athletes.

Topics will cover:

Identifying a student athlete "prospect" today. Where and when are they first discovered?

The "first" contact: is the beginning of "expectations"?

The Parent's role in supporting their student athlete today in middle school and high school sports.

How a Parent can best prepare for understanding the eligibility related to NCAA Clearinghouse rules and regulations today.

Important information and dates to remember.

Core subjects that are pre-requisites for eligibility standards per NCAA Clearinghouse rules.

Select Team programs: does it help to be on a "Select" team today or not?

What age should individual training, such as Strength and Conditioning programs be initiated?

Sports Nutrition and your student athlete today. The importance of eating well and staying healthy.

Registration will be open from 12:00 - 12:20pm. Pre-registration is recommended at www.FamilySportsLifeToday.com. Seating is limited, so it is important to register online now for this event.

Donations of Food items for Northwest Harvest will be greatly appreciated and gladly accepted!

This is the third program of its kind. The inaugural program began in 2001 at Seattle Pacific University and was widely acclaimed by all parents in attendance at that time. The second program was hosted on the campus at Hec Ed Pavilion two years ago, and all parents in attendance came away with a better understanding of what college coaches think when they identify a "prospect" for their sports programs.

Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban posts frequently on basketball, technology, media, and business on his personal blog, BlogMaverick.com. His post on April 9th asks whether 18 or 19 year-olds are ready for the personal, financial, and business decisions that go along with their new career.

From the perspective of an NBA owner, maturity is far harder to qualify than talent. Can he manage the personal side of his life ?

Can he deal with all the obligations that come with living on your own, and being in a job that requires you traveling more often than not ?

Does he have an understanding of financial principals ? To a 19 year old kid without financial training, a million dollar contract makes him a millionaire. There is no concept that 50pct goes to taxes and that by the time he pays his bills, he has a great job, that pays great money, but he isn't at a level that allows him to spend without limit. Unfortunately, there are far too many agents that won't have the tough love conversations with their clients until its too late.

The Seattle Times has a story today on Seattle U's plans for a major fundraising campaign. Increases in the university's endowment will be used for new facilities including a new library and hi-tech classrooms, new scholarships, a fund for travel for religious study, and new fitness center and athletic facilities.

Seattle U leaders say that part of the challenge for the future is reaching out to students' secular interests -- like basketball -- while maintaining the college's religious roots...

The push to rejoin NCAA Division I basketball, after Seattle U dropped out of the West Coast Conference in 1980, also remains a priority for [Seattle U President Rev. Stephen] Sundborg. That despite a setback last year when the member schools from the West Coast Conference said they weren't interested in expanding any time soon. Sundborg said it will just take more time. He plans to spend $1 million more on athletics each year in hopes of elevating Seattle U to a standard at which the school would be more welcomed in the division. There is also $20 million earmarked from the campaign for the new fitness center and to upgrade athletic facilities.

The Time's editorial board expresses their support for the campaign here.

The New York Times ran an article on March 10th talking about how parents have the expectations that high school sports and select teams will lead to a path to college. They are often disappointed, given that college scholarships only cover a portion of the full bill.

"People run themselves ragged to play on three teams at once so they could always reach the next level," said Margaret Barry of Laurel, Md., whose daughter is a scholarship swimmer at the University of Delaware. "They're going to be disappointed when they learn that if they're very lucky, they will get a scholarship worth 15 percent of the $40,000 college bill. What's that? $6,000?"

I LOVE the Final Four...no, I LOVE college basketball in March and April as it truly defines teams' characters, courage, resiliency, hope, and the ability to push through adversity, no matter what the score is...

Watching UNC's demise last night on TV, was a painful exhibition and had to take Coach Williams breakfast and lunch and make it feel like a Maytag Washer on the Bering Sea...As a Coach, you always hope and pray that your players are mentally "ready" to compete, NOT JUST PLAY, and I got the impression that Carolina was ONLY ready to play, not compete until it woke up after halftime...I mean, imagine: 40-12 during Kansas' first half run, and in between the TV's and Carolina's timeouts during this tsunami-like offensive wave by the Jayhawks, Carolina had no answer...they were just flat outplayed...WOW...WOW!!

So, what do you do as a coach or parent directly affected by such a blowout and wonderment of confusion being associated with a team that's getting blow out (and TRUST me, as a Coach, parent or friend, you WILL experience this as a spectator or bench member)? Find the Arena's engineer and ask him to "pull the plug" for 5 mins. on the scoreboard and clock...The other suggestion, would be, to a more-than-usual exhorting to the players on the court with some heavy lovin encouragement...Seriously, think about this: if I'm playing and as a team I "overhear" someone in the stands callin for the " HazMat team to come in quick 'cause there's something definitely "unknown" goin on down on the court and someone NEEDS to check it out...", and I look at the scoreboard and then to the sideline, and all I see are coaches who are noticeably "balder" than before the game started (heads down) and then my head's up observing family and friends in the stands, and they've all got that expression of "Children of the Corn" look, well, trust me, if I hear screaming and yelling of positive encouragement NO MATTER WHAT, that's enough to get me through the "storm" and pick the energy up for myself and teammates...That is what happened to Carolina towards the end of the 1st half, they got some positive "love songs" from their fans and bench and closed with confidence... That run and the 2nd half run was reminiscent of Coach Dean Smith's great Carolina teams of the past...I wasn't surprised, and would not have been in shock IF the Tar Heels pulled off the greatest comeback in Final Four history...Why? Carolina has great, no GRRRRREEEEAAAAAAT basketball tradition and legacy paving its way in all competitions related to ACC lore and NCAA Big Dance games...Anyway, it was really fun to watch the energy and competitive matchups from both teams...

UcLA...hmmmm, that game did not surprise me in the least...I am not a big "fan" of Darrin Collison and he proved me "why"...As a "lead guard", one must take the responsibility of getting your team into the offense and directing the spacing on the floor as an "extension" of the Head Coach...That is what a "lead guard's" responsibility is and always will be...Somewhere along the way, during the 2As, he missed that chapter, paragraph, discussion or email, unfortunately, because he did not rise to occasion as his teammates did...The biggest GRIPE I have today at all levels of basketball is when a Big Post has position inside with a Defender playing behind him, THEN PASS THE FREAKN BALL to him and let him go to work: QUIT DRIBBLING and dominating the ball for 15 seconds, going from one side of the court to the other...I'm sorry, I don't get that at all...The one thing that I will always remember about Magic Johnson and John Stockton is that they truly kept the offense in the "flow" and kept the game simple in the half court with their decision-making and execution...UcLA did not have a clue on spacing, angles and proper execution to get the ball into the best passer on the team, young blood Kevin Love...He is truly a remarkably gifted young student/athlete for UcLA...I love his verve, his basketball quotient is "Bird-like", his love for the game is "Magic-like" and more importantly he HAS FUN playing the game...Wow...I did however feel that his back was bothering him early on in the 1st half (mid) as he did not run the floor nor move like he normally does, and his "pained" expressions during dead ball situations were obvious signs to me that it would be a long night for Kevin and his kidneys matching up with Dorsey and company...Let me say this: I certainly hope that Kevin stays at UcLa for another season, as he is one of the most wonderful models for ANY and ALL level basketball players today UNIVERSALLY speaking, and even though he is a bona fide Pro, there is no guarantee that he would end up with a veteran-laden team that would take the pressure off of him and he would develop accordingly...Having this young man on college TV hoops next season would encourage Dads to sit and watch with their sons and daughters how simple this player makes the game with his footwork skills, passing touch, and shooting the ball facing and back to the basket....plus he's not too shabby on defense either: block shots and rebounding both ends...

Memphis is the real deal...Coach John Calipari is one of the true teachers of the game today...he learned under Larry Brown back in the day at KU, and has been a student of the game ever since...He had the short lived experience of coaching in the NBA a couple of seasons after his first Final Four appearance with Marcus Camby and UMass years ago, and I think that experience alone (NBA Nets), helped him see what a coach can do with exceptionally gifted athletes...I'm tellin you now: that team could run with a lot of current NBA teams today...yeah, that good...Their point Guard Rose? WOW!! His feel and demeanor for the game is off the charts and he will soon be spoken in the same breath with Wade, Nash, Kidd and Chris Paul, who is a remarkable lead guard today in the League...Seriously, I haven't seen a better guard (Point) in college the last two years than this young man (19 years old)...He has a chance to be one of the "future" Stars of the NBA whose illuminations and success stories have yet to be written...

I have really enjoyed being home again in our beautiful country...I am so proud to be an American and have the opportunities to represent my country through basketball, you have no idea...The China experience was a terrific stay as was the Vladivostok, Russia clinics and visit...Know this, basketball is a peaceful medium, means, and an olive branch that melds all the differences, both political and religious to a level of respect and friendships that we can all appreciate and cherish forever...And I do...

Take care, more to come this week...BIG ANNOUNCEMENT coming in two days...A "must" for Parents and their student athletes to attend...There's NOTHING LIKE THIS provided here in the NW...FREE...FREE...Coach tom